﻿The past decade has witnessed impressive growth in and commitment to helping more students graduate, fueled in part by a growing body of research on barriers to achievement of a diploma or credential. The 2014 Building a GradNation Summit was energized by the news that our national on-time graduation rate had reached 80% for the first time, growing ever closer to the GradNation campaign’s goal of a 90% on-time graduation rate by 2020.

Research to Practice is a new CCRS Center blog series. Each month, CCRS Center staff will highlight the latest research from the Regional Educational Laboratories on college and career readiness topics. This is the first in the series.

Few would argue that out of school learning is unimportant for preparing students for postsecondary learning and careers. Most would suggest that some form of work-based, even workplace-based, learning in fact adds value to a high school diploma. We agree, and propose that these "leaving to learn" opportunities are not only important but essential if we are to keep all students in school deeply engaged in productive learning.

The transition from middle to high school presents many challenges for students, including increased academic expectations with reduced student support, summer learning loss, and often times difficult social transitions. Across the nation, summer transition programs aim to reduce the number of dropouts by providing transition supports for students most at risk of dropping out.

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